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Hollywood movies have been made about how the team representing a newly-democratic South Africa pulled off a stunning Rugby World Cup victory in 1995, with President Nelson Mandela present in the stadium. The country would lift the title again in 2007 and 2019. Its team is one of the favourites in the 2023 edition of the tournament which kicks off this weekend in France. But rugby in Africa isn’t all about South Africa. Namibia is also through to the final stages of this year’s tournament - and a growing number of African teams attempted to compete. Rugby expert Wilbur Kraak previews the teams in competition and looks at the state of the game on the
continent.
If you simply want to cut to the chase to find out who is most likely to win, then read Niven Winchester on the use of 10,000 simulations to rank the contenders.
Some exciting news from The Conversation team: the network has been expanded with the launch of an edition in Brazil. You can read about it here.
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Wilbur Kraak, University of the Western Cape
South Africa eyes a fourth title while Namibia aims to win its first world cup match. Rugby shows huge potential for growth in Africa.
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Niven Winchester, Auckland University of Technology
The Rugby World Cup kicks off this weekend with hosts France playing New Zealand. Here’s why the All Blacks are still favourites to win the tournament, despite not being the official top team.
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Ling Zhao, University of Tennessee; Paul D. Terry, University of Tennessee
More people are seeking out traditional forms of medicine, from acupuncture to herbal medicines. The WHO is working to develop standards to make these healing practices implementable on a wide sale.
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Matthew Wills, University of Bath; Marcello Ruta, University of Lincoln
We may have become the most complex living creature in part by accident and replication of error.
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Jonathan Culpeper, Lancaster University
Corpus linguistics – using computers to analyse texts – can spot patterns and nuances that might otherwise go unnoticed.
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Arash Javanbakht, Wayne State University
Although emotions like fear and anxiety originate in your brain, they ultimately travel through your body and make your heart race and your stomach twist.
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Misha Ketchell, The Conversation
Our new colleagues in Brazil join a growing global network of journalists and academics trying to be part of the solution to the problems facing journalism and the societies we serve.
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Kelvin S.-H. Peh, University of Southampton
Not all alien species are a significant hazard to people and ecosystems.
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